RALEIGH, N.C. — As more people and companies begin calling Raleigh home, a new report ranks the area as ninth in the nation for a shortage of apartments.

 

What You Need To Know

  • The Raleigh area just ranked ninth in the nation for a shortage of apartments, according to the National Multifamily Housing Coalition and National Apartment Association
  • The shortage comes amid a population boom of nearly 1 million people from the 2010 to 2020 Census
  • The City of Raleigh planning and development director says it’s using an $80 million housing bond passed in 2020 to purchase property and work with developers to provide affordable housing opportunities to low income households

 

The National Multifamily Housing Coalition and National Apartment Association said the area needs 45,000 more apartments by 2035.

The City of Raleigh Planning and Development Director Patrick Young said the city is working to make sure supply meets demand. They’re exploring areas like North Hills, Brier Creek, downtown and more areas for infrastructure and apartment growth opportunities.

The demand for housing comes amid rising rent and a population boom.

From 2010 to 2020, North Carolina’s population grew by 903,905 people or 9.5%, according to state Census data.

“We are one of the cities that have seen the biggest increase in housing demand since the pandemic,” Young said. “Even before the pandemic, we saw these same trends of enormous growth, particularly in young professionals.”

One of the city’s solutions is to diversify the types of housing throughout the area, by offering more backyard cottages, duplexes, triplexes and garden apartments.

The other issue to tackle is the shortage of affordable housing.

According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, North Carolina has 347,827 extremely low-income renters. Meanwhile, it reports a shortage of 195,661 affordable and available rental homes.

Young said Raleigh is tackling the issue of affordable housing by leaning into an $80 million Affordable Housing Bond passed in November 2020.

“[The city is] working to purchase property and partner with developers to ensure that there's high quality housing opportunities affordable to folks at low and very low incomes that are in high opportunity, call high opportunity locations, near jobs, near schools, near businesses, near bus routes,” Young said. “So that folks can have, you know, the high-quality experience and stay in Raleigh.”

The City of Raleigh is also providing surplus land to develop areas like the Dix Park area and downtown Moore Square.

“That will be focused on having high quality development, but also ensuring that the private sector helps support the affordable housing in those locations,” Young said.